Before Primary, GOP Rep. Spencer ‘Serve The Banks’ Bachus Gets Last Minute Fundraising Boost From Wall Street

House Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bachus (R-AL) — who said in an interview that he believes Washington’s role is to “serve the banks” — is facing one of the stiffest primary challenges of his long career. State Sen. Scott Beason (R) has been chasing Bachus ahead of today’s Alabama elections, helped by some hefty spending from a political action committee and ill-sentiment towards Bachus as a result of a 60 Minutes report showing that Bachus profited from information he received in private briefings during the 2008 economic crisis.

But Bachus has received a little last minute help, courtesy of the financial firms he thinks its his duty to assist:

Bachus’s coffers have been filled by a long list of financial firms whose interests are affected by the congressman’s committee. Over the past several days alone, he’s received donations from the likes of Citigroup, Barclays and RBS.

Bachus has relied on the financial industry for nearly half of his fundraising during this election cycle, receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars from commercial banks and securities firms. Over his career, the financial industry has been far and away Bachus’ biggest donor.

And it’s really no mystery why the financial industry is so keen on keeping Bachus around. As chairman, he has sought to water down and weaken the Dodd-Frank financial reform law, gut the budgets of financial markets regulators, and undermine foreclosure prevention programs.